http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/ Reed Construction Data Chief Economist Alex Carrick discusses current developments in Canada's economic environment. He also shares light-hearted reflections on life and current events. en rcdwebmaster@reedconstructiondata.com Copyright 2009 2009-11-19T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/starts-remain-low-in-canadatas-latest-forecasts-but-there-are-signs-of-a-pi/ http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/starts-remain-low-in-canadatas-latest-forecasts-but-there-are-signs-of-a-pi/#When:06:00:00Z CanaData’s forecast for total non-residential building construction starts nation-wide in 2009 now stands at 45.5 million square feet. This is about half of what it was two years ago in 2007 at 92.1 million. Last year was the first year of decline in the recession and the square footage of ICI starts (industrial, commercial and institutional) dropped to 75.5 million. The new slightly revised forecasts for 2010 and 2011 are for 56.0 million and 70.0 million square feet respectively. Market Insights, Commercial Building & Heavy Engineering, Construction Forecasts, Construction Starts, Costs & Materials, CAN 2009-11-19T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/canadatas-october-construction-starts-and-remembering-planned-obsolescence-/ http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/canadatas-october-construction-starts-and-remembering-planned-obsolescence-/#When:06:00:00Z Industrial starts have become a non-factor in overall construction activity in Canada. They are going to amount to less than two million square feet in 2009, which is less than one good-sized shopping mall when times are better. How did industrial work come to such a sorry pass? Market Insights, Commercial Building & Heavy Engineering, Construction Starts, Economy & Finance, CAN 2009-11-11T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/its-a-world-of-opportunities-as-economic-thoughts-turn-to-recovery/ http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/its-a-world-of-opportunities-as-economic-thoughts-turn-to-recovery/#When:06:00:00Z The current mantra about the world economy seems to be that no one can take recovery for granted until the private sector replaces the public sector as the source of new demand. Central bankers, with few exceptions (e.g., Australia) are unlikely to alter their extraordinarily low interest rate policies until unemployment stops rising and the need for government stimulus money winds down. A thorough read of the daily business news, however, reveals that a great deal more is going on behind the scenes and that some business owners and managers are attempting to get out front of events while tremendous opportunities are still available. Market Insights, Costs & Materials, Economy & Finance, US, CAN 2009-11-04T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/housing-markets-in-canada-and-us-tell-a-complex-story/ http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/housing-markets-in-canada-and-us-tell-a-complex-story/#When:06:00:00Z The housing markets in Canada and the U.S. continue to tell complex stories. Canada’s housing starts have been gradually creeping up since their April low. For 2009 as a whole, they are expected to be 140,000 units, rising to 160,000 in 2010, then 180,000 in 2011. The stock of unsold single-family homes in Canada is adjusting downward in an appropriate fashion, but the unsold stock of multiples is still climbing. In the U.S., the monthly annualized starts number is just under 600,000 units. Similar to Canada, the improvement next year will be only gradual, to 700,000 units, with a further modest gain in 2011 to 900,000. Market Insights, Construction Forecasts, Housing, US, CAN 2009-10-28T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/the-current-grace-period-for-construction-costs-will-expire-within-six-mont/ http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/the-current-grace-period-for-construction-costs-will-expire-within-six-mont/#When:06:00:00Z Several factors are conspiring to give construction costs a lift. This won’t happen overnight. But it does mean that sometime in the next six months, the current grace period will expire. Market Insights, Commercial Building & Heavy Engineering, Costs & Materials, US, CAN 2009-10-22T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/what-happens-when-the-loonie-shoots-past-parity-with-the-greenback/ http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/what-happens-when-the-loonie-shoots-past-parity-with-the-greenback/#When:18:00:00Z Once again, the Canadian dollar is flirting with U.S. dollar parity. What will be the consequences if the loonie shoots past parity with the greenback? How much worse (or better) will things get? Market Insights, Economy & Finance, CAN 2009-10-15T18:00:00-05:00 http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/more-variety-in-canadatas-september-starts-statistics/ http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/more-variety-in-canadatas-september-starts-statistics/#When:06:00:00Z For the first time in many months, there is a little more variety of projects in CanaData’s Top 10 list of construction starts in September. Mixed in with the institutional and engineering projects which have been dominant since April are a couple of multi-unit residential projects in Quebec City and a commercial project in Alberta. The latter is the Telus World of Science building in Calgary. As for Quebec, its experience of the recession has not been as severe as for many other provinces. Market Insights, Commercial Building & Heavy Engineering, Construction Starts, Economy & Finance, CAN, Alberta, Quebec 2009-10-08T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/take-reports-of-albertas-economic-demise-with-a-grain-of-salt/ http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/take-reports-of-albertas-economic-demise-with-a-grain-of-salt/#When:06:00:00Z Take all the reports about the economic demise of Alberta with a grain of salt. In the latest quarter, the fastest population growth rate among all provinces in the country was recorded there (+0.59%), according to the latest demographic report from Statistics Canada. Second place went to Prince Edward Island (+0.53%). The territory of Nunavut actually outpaced all regions (+0.68%). The total Canada rate of increase was +0.36% (Q2/Q1). Market Insights, Economy & Finance, CAN, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan 2009-09-30T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/questions-to-be-addressed-at-canadatas-24th-annual-construction-industry-fo/ http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/questions-to-be-addressed-at-canadatas-24th-annual-construction-industry-fo/#When:06:00:00Z CanaData’s 24th annual Construction Industry Forecasts Conference will be held on Thursday, September 24th, at the Liberty Grand in Toronto. The following are some key questions and themes that will be addressed and dealt with during the day by the high-powered roster of speakers. Delegate networking will also be an important source of market intelligence. Market Insights, Construction Forecasts, Costs & Materials, Economy & Finance, Housing, CAN, Alberta 2009-09-22T06:00:00-05:00 http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/capacity-utilization-rates-capture-the-hard-times-and-point-to-weak-constru/ http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/alex-carrick/post/capacity-utilization-rates-capture-the-hard-times-and-point-to-weak-constru/#When:06:00:01Z Many of the problems with the recessionary Canadian economy are revealed in the latest (Q2 09) capacity utilization numbers from Statistics Canada. Manufacturing in the second quarter of this year was operating at less than two-thirds of its capacity. It was the same case for forestry and logging. The mining sector was at only half of its capacity. Total Canadian industry in second-quarter 2009 had a capacity utilization rate of just 67.4%. Market Insights, Construction Forecasts, Economy & Finance, CAN 2009-09-16T06:00:01-05:00